When cognitive dissonance becomes the norm, truth becomes irrelevant and reason useless.

[Atticus]

I know I'm casting a wide net here, but consider:

Everyone I know whose opinion is worth a cup of warm spit agrees that the unelected and morally challenged George W. Bush committed war crimes and violations of US law while waging a naked war of aggression. He---and several members of his administration---belong in prison.

They can be seen regularly on the evening news commenting on current events.

The Tea Party whackos in Congress oppose military action in Syria---as I do---because 58% of the "Murikan people" oppose it and they "support the will of the people!"

91% of the people support universal background checks before someone can purchase a firearm, but that doesn't mean diddly squat.

Somehow, our media can't seem to find a place for the likes of Donahue, Uyger and Olberman, but walking pus-pockets like Limbaugh, O'Reilly and Hannity blanket the airwaves.

I could go on, but why? You know as well as I that we live in Orwellian times.

Mice in a maze can manage just fine when stepping on a red square delivers an electrical charge. And, if you change the rules and put the electricity under blue squares, they can adjust. They can learn to avoid the pain so long as the rules are consistent; so long as their world "makes sense".

But, zap them at random times in random places during varying activities and they soon suffer mental breakdowns. With no apparent control over their own welfare and comfort, they retreat into madness.

Just some thoughts from where I live.

[Fumesucker]

1. I tend to think that an inability to form cognitive dissonance is a major problem

It's an inability to form or register cognitive dissonance that allows Teabaggers to say things like "Get the government out of my Medicare" for instance.

Doctor Bob Altemeyer's book "The Authoritarians" speaks at length about the inability of authoritarians to register cognitive dissonance, a characteristic that seems to be showing more and more here on DU in fact.

[Thinkingabout]

2. K & R

I am amazed listening to Faux news worshippers who only hear and comprehend the garbage put out by Faux, Hannity and Rush, etc. This bunch would climb a tree and tell a lie when the truth sounds better on the ground. They have been lied to so much the truth can never enter their minds. Cognitive dissonance is at the heart of the failure to recognize the truth is different.

[snagglepuss]

10. "This bunch would climb a tree and tell a lie when the truth sounds better on the ground."

What a great line. Is that a common saying in your neck of the woods?

[nashville_brook]

3. i love the mouse illustration...i've used a similar one

that mice can survive for quite some time with a steady mild shock if they have enough room to chill alone. if they get crowded with other mice they start attacking each other.

i'm totally adding the cognitive dissonance illustration to my mouse repertoire.

i think there's something about cognitive dissonance that makes it better if you can find people of like mind that you can reality-check with. "dude, is that blue square shocking you now?"

"hell yes, there's not pattern anymore."

"that's what I thought too. time to go over the fence."

[Wilms]

4. That was oddly comforting.

Thanks. And well done.

[Populist_Prole]

5. Great post

I love conversations along this line: The deep inner stuff of human nature and metaphysics. Everything else is just symptoms of deeper stuff.

[Precisely]

6. be the change

and don't forget to breathe

[Cronus Protagonist]

7. Don't worry, be happy

Truth is just another point of view. Everything is entertainment and I get to choose the channel.

Welcome to the future of man.

[bluedeathray]

8. This is the means

By which they confuse weak minded souls, garner votes with no intent on following those policies, and create legal tunnels and traps.

And BTW, President Obama has no authority to forgive war crimes, or prevent their investigation and/or prosecution. Wanna' start a class action with me? Cheney's already been convicted in Malaysia.

[Sand Wind]

9. The conditions of life might include error...

We have arranged for ourselves a world in which we can live - by positing bodies, lines, planes, causes and effects, motion and rest, form and content; without these articles of faith nobody could now endure life. But that does not prove them. Life is no argument. The conditions of life might include error...

Nietzsche.

[snagglepuss]

11. The mice in the maze story blows me away. It explains a lot.

Thanks for the post.